Clever with Amy Devers

Illustrator Yuko Shimizu was born in Tokyo, Japan and began drawing from an early age. As a preteen, her family moved from Japan to the US, a huge culture shock that included learning an entirely new language and navigating social norms in 7th grade. This experience gave her an even deeper love for drawing - something that transcends any language barrier. After college, Yuko spent 11 years at a prestigious corporate PR firm in Japan before she decided to pursue her lifelong dream. At 34, she enrolled in art school in New York City. Since then, she’s received numerous accolades for her beautiful illustrations. A staunch supporter of going after what you want, Yuko certainly doesn’t regret any choices she’s made to draw a new path forward for herself.  Images, links and more from Yuko Shimizu!Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers,If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A writer, speaker, and women’s creative leadership coach, Majo Molfino is a champion for smashing the patriarchy (both within and outside each of us!) and supporting women in harnessing their creative confidence and power. A precocious child, she was born in Argentina and moved with her family across the US and Canada, eventually landing in San Francisco. As an immigrant, she grew up trying to uphold the “Good Girl Myth” sacrificing her identity, her creativity, and her confidence to counteract the feeling of not belonging. After a windy path through a few stuffy 9 to 5s, she went on a few mind-blowing voyages and began to reconnect with herself. Now, Majo is the host of the HEROINE podcast, author of “Break the Good Girl Myth,” and is a role model and a leader in designing a life and career that is a perfect fit. Images, links and more from Majo! Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you! Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robyn Kanner’s personal story is twisty and beautifully American. Largely self-taught, she fought hard to find her voice, and has battled bullies, addiction and self-doubt on her path to purpose. She, alongside Carahna Magwood, led a design team that effectively imbued the Biden Harris ticket with an uplifting, hopefulness that stressed reliability, inclusive values and unification. From the hot pink Biden & Lady Gaga promos, to unifying red-blue gradients. Robyn’s is a story of acceptance, healing, hard work, creativity and community - and feels as bright and hopeful as a victory gradient. Images, links and more from Robyn Kanner! Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you! Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former CEO of Design Within Reach and business consultant, John Edelman grew up on a horse farm in Connecticut. The youngest of 6, his childhood was filled with love, surrounded by his parents’ big dreams, in a home filled with visitors, from Andy Warhol to fashion executives. A hustler and daredevil from an early age, he excelled at flipping cars and riding dirt bikes but struggled in school. After college, John joined the family leather business, sorting buffalo skins in Thailand, worked for his brother at Esprit, and lived in Brazil to work in the shoe business. From 2010 - 2019 John served as CEO of Design Within Reach, during his tenure he pulled the company out of a downward spiral, transformed it into the world leader in authentic design, and led a highly publicized sale to Herman Miller. Now, Co-Founder of Fourth & Pride vodka, John’s life has been one great story after another - from adventure to romance, hardships to triumph, and a future that looks just as thrilling. Images, links and more from John Edelman! Many thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Gild Insurance Have you ever wondered if you have the insurance you need to be fully protected as a business owner? Gild is a nationally licensed, digital, independent insurance agency for small business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, microbusinesses and freelancers. Available online 24/7, Gild’s one-of-a-kind digital insurance process is easy to navigate and understand.  Gildber, the digital assistant, will ask you a series of questions and translate the complicated insurance process into a policy tailored to your business needs. By evaluating multiple trusted insurance providers’ options, Gildber finds you the partner you need in just minutes. To learn more about how Gild provides insurance when you need it and how you want it, visit yourgild.com/Clever. Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you! Clever is hosted by Amy Devers and produced by 2VDE Media, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever is a member of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit airwavemedia.com to discover more great shows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We'll be back with new episodes in 2022. To close out the year, we're rebroadcasting some of our favorite episodes of the year.Dr. Natalie Nixon grew up in Philadelphia playing double dutch and hopscotch on the street. Listening to jazz with her dad and exploring art with her mother taught her the value of improvisation and emotional resonance. Flexing her academic excellence while also being subjected to racial bigotry and red lining helped to hone her ability to see systems and span boundaries. Her experiences are vast and varied, from running a hat business in New York city to earning her PhD in Design Management in London. Today she's the president of Figure 8 Thinking, a Creative Strategy & Design Research consultancy that helps leaders apply creativity & foresight to achieve transformative business results, and the author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work.   Many thanks to this episode's sponsor:Gild InsuranceHave you ever wondered if you have the insurance you need to be fully protected as a business owner? Gild is a nationally licensed, digital, independent insurance agency for small business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, microbusinesses and freelancers. Available online 24/7, Gild’s one-of-a-kind digital insurance process is easy to navigate and understand.  Gildber, the digital assistant, will ask you a series of questions and translate the complicated insurance process into a policy tailored to your business needs. By evaluating multiple trusted insurance providers’ options, Gildber finds you the partner you need in just minutes. To learn more about how Gild provides insurance when you need it and how you want it, visit yourgild.com/Clever. Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers, If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted by Amy Devers and produced by 2VDE Media, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Laura Jaramillo and music by El Ten Eleven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Industrial designer & entrepreneur, Yves Béhar, grew up in Switzerland on a steady diet of punk and windsurfing. After graduating from ArtCenter in California he moved to the Bay Area and got his professional start designing for The Burdick Group, LUNAR and frog. He founded fuseproject, his industrial design and branding firm, in 1999 and since then has been responsible for groundbreaking contributions to the design landscape across the fields of product design, brand development, business strategy, environments, and social impact. A pioneer of the “design venture” business model, he has also had a hand in redefining the way designers do business, enabling early-stage creative investment in startup projects. His new book, Yves Béhar: Designing Ideas is a comprehensive retrospective of his 20+ year career. Images, links and more from Yves Béhar!Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydeversIf you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.Clever is a member of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit airwavemedia.com to discover more great shows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Live experience & interior designer Willo Perron grew up in Montreal surrounded by creativity. An industrious kid, he dropped out of high school at 14 to follow his own entrepreneurial and creative path. He got his start around the nightclub scene in Montreal doing everything from designing flyers, to lighting, to scouting DJs, and designing streetwear. Since then he’s gone on to design the now-famous aesthetic for American Apparel retail stores, as well as collaborate with many of pop music’s biggest stars, including Kanye, Drake, Lady Gaga, and St. Vincent. With partner Brian Roettinger, he’s built a multidisciplinary design firm, Perron-Roettinger, that works across Interior design, live experience, print, and identity. A firm believer in life having a way of working out, Willo continues to embrace entrepreneurship, creativity, and collaboration in an intuitive and exhilarating way. Images, links and more from Willo Perron!Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydeversIf you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan and music by El Ten Eleven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this Clever Extra, Amy Devers sat down with Kent Parker and Paul Wilkinson of the design studio Formway in New Zealand and Giulio Bonazzi, who leads Italian synthetic materials producer Aquafil, to discuss their design collaboration. Together, they unpack the story behind a truly remarkable chair, the noho move chair. The noho move chair is revolutionizing residential seating design by addressing issues of health, movement, multifunction, and sustainability in monumental ways, while also pushing the boundaries and performance capabilities of the material it’s made from. Get a behind the scenes look at the innovation, collaboration, and experimentation that goes into creating the future of furniture design. Images, links and more from Econyl and Aquafil!Many thanks to this episode’s sponsors:This episode of Clever is brought to you by Aquafil, makers of ECONYL, a regenerated nylon derived from 100% recycled waste. Learn more here. Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers, @designmilkClever is a proud member of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit airwavemedia.com to discover more great shows.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted by Amy Devers and produced by 2VDE Media, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.Clever is proudly distributed by Design Milk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information designer and advocate for data humanism, Giorgia Lupi, spent her childhood in Italy organizing buttons in her grandmother’s tailor shop, a data collector already in the making. The teenage years had her expressing herself through the punk rock and heavy metal scene in her town. After receiving her master’s degree in Architecture, she began her PhD in Design at Politecnico di Milano while founding Accurat, an internationally acclaimed data-driven design firm. Now a partner at Pentagram, and author of personal projects such as Dear Data, she continues to push for a humanistic approach to data as a path to understanding our complex realities. Images, links and more from Giorgia!Many thanks to this episode’s sponsors:Yellow ImagesYellow Images is a marketplace of over 70,000 high-quality premium mockups, creative fonts, PNG Images, and a creative store full of amazing graphic assets like lettering, icons, presets, brushes, and more. With Yellow Images, you can finish your projects faster without wasting time on unnecessary revisions so you can get back to doing what you love. Use promo code CLEVER20 to get a 20% discount on your purchase right here. Don’t miss out! These coupons are limited, so first come - first served.Please say Hi on social! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers, @designmilkIf you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted by Amy Devers and produced by 2VDE Media, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.Clever is proudly distributed by Design Milk.Clever is a member of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit airwavemedia.com to discover more great shows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the afternoon of August 14th, 1915, fire ripped through Taliesin, the Spring Green, Wisconsin home of the world’s most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. When the smoke cleared seven people would be dead, murdered with an axe at the hands of Julian Carlton, a servant of Wright’s. But why? The motive remains a mystery to this day. But there are so many other questions. Why does seemingly everyone know Frank Lloyd Wright but strangely, very few seem to know this much darker side of his story? In this episode we’ll investigate all of that as well as the great state of Wisconsin, Wright’s never-ending battle with societal norms, and the interplay between critics and creative professionals. Happy Halloween! Images, links and more about Frank Lloyd Wright and the Murders at Taliesin!If you like Clever Confidential and want to hear more, please support us by telling your friends and letting us know what you think! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydeversIf you enjoy Clever Confidential we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! Thank you to Brad Lynch of Brininstool & Lynch Architects for lending his expertise, insight and colorful commentary and to "The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas for audio clips from the historic Frank Lloyd Wright interview.Clever Confidential is created and produced by Amy Devers, hosted by Amy Devers and Andrew Wagner, with editing and sound design by Camille Stennis, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan. Our theme music is “Astronomy" by Thin White Rope. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.